Living for Customer Delight

Posted by ehodgso on March 20th, 2008 in , , and · 0 Comments

I recently had a chance to catch Jerre Stead talking about ‘customer delight.’  And his approach was different than what you would think.

As we build our Web presence, especially in higher education, it is so easy to focus on audience analysis. Jerre had all of us take a step back from there. His basic premise is: If you aren’t happy internally, you can’t be built to please the customer. Whether you are tasked with Web management, student services, alumni relations, or server administration, we all must understand what we can do each day to make ourselves effective, then make the ‘customer’ happy.

I am no expert in this field, but I’m certainly willing to give it a shot. Here are some starting points:

  • Read, then re-read, then live QBQ. This little book will get you in the habit of asking what you can do to solve problems. Oh, and subscribe to his newsletter.
  • Don’t fall into internal politics. Easier said than done. If you stop pushing, you just became part of the problem, not part of the solution. As long as you aren’t doing anything illegal, follow your instincts then ask for forgiveness. A great way to avoid politics is to over-communicate. Sell your boss, your boss’s boss, and her boss’s boss on a concept.
  • Become an evangelist. Have a great idea? Sell it internally. Constantly convince people why your department or project is the most important. Invite people to learning sessions. Give presentations. And don’t forget to continually learn yourself. That might just make others turn the corner.

Bob Johnson, at the bottom of his weekly newsletter, says “be a marketing champion.” Never settle, and never give up.

‘The Persuaders’ and Product Placement

Posted by ehodgso on March 4th, 2008 in , , and · 1 Comment

So, I had a chance to catch the documentary The Persuaders from Frontline. Not to give you a review on it, but it goes through the advancement of product marketing over the past 50 years. Much has changed with how advertisers successfully put products in front of you, with the biggest trend (and biggest business) being product placement.

Couple that with this recent article in AdWeek, and we get the idea that product placement is now more expensive than a Super Bowl ad. If you are not in the video games (if your market plays these games), you may be wasting your time.

[Eric - What does this have to do with higher education marketing?] I am glad you asked. I caught the movie Accepted and wondered why the “legitimate” college in the movie was fictitious. The main storyline was about college recruiting…right up all our alleys.

A college education, second to purchasing a home, is the major investment for most of us. Yet the latest trend (last five years) for marketing is the relationship between Hollywood and the advertising community. It may not be for everyone, but your brand can certainly take advantage.

Somebody Gets It: MTV/Rate My Professors

Posted by ehodgso on February 27th, 2008 in , , and · 0 Comments

Bob Johnson’s weekly newsletter highlighted a new features on MTVU allowing professors to reply to comments left on the popular Rate My Professors.com. Three reasons why I love this idea:

  • Professors, as a whole, are entertaining. It is very difficult to get up in front of a class everyday, let alone find ways to shape young minds and encourage participation. Let them respond, purely for the entertainment value.
  • Communication is a two-way street. It is never fair to only hear one side of a story, especially when it may impact the classes other students take in college. Even though some of the responses are light, they at least get a response.
  • It’s cross-media. If ratemyprofessors.com would have only posted the responses on their Web site, it may have been missed. Instead, they took the opportunity to sprinkle this on both TV and on another site through MTVU.

Bow to Your User

Posted by ehodgso on February 25th, 2008 in , , , and · 1 Comment

It has taken so long for new technologies to grasp change and user behavior. Why is this? I understand why they typically don’t perfect the user experience in the first round, or second, or third; but there have been some lingering concepts that I have just noticed being straightened because of enough user demand. Sing along if you’ve faced some of the following issues:

  • Portability of mobile content. Cell phones don’t last forever. And if you are unlucky enough to have a phone that doesn’t sync with another device (like a PC or Mac), then the data will always only live in one place. Techcrunch recently wrote a post on SYNCY that allows mobile users to store and share contact, calendar, and messaging entries. No more guessing if that incompetent Sprint rep behind the counter can figure it out.
  • For smartphones users/road warriors, you spend so much time networking on the Web, but the tools don’t allow you to reap the benefits when you are unplugged. Over the past year, facebook and linkedin have both moved to a full mobile version (facebook, prior to mid 2007 was update only). Now, everyone without a mobile version of your site…get to it.
  • Speaking of not having everything with you at all times, reading material is now getting more Web friendly. Audiobooks are great, but not always available at your fingertips. Physical books are great, but can’t always be remembered (or travel delays accounted for). Bring on iPaper (the self-proclaimed YouTube for documents). It’s on your site, it’s social, it’s multi-platform, protable, and it’s easy to use.

So…for those of you who don’t like the way companies use technologies, speak up. Better yet, change them yourself. These are three of many great ideas on “fixing your problem.”

Somebody Gets It: ESPN

Posted by ehodgso on February 13th, 2008 in , , , and · 0 Comments

Today, Jason Stark for ESPN is actively blogging about the Clemens/Steroids hearing on Capitol Hill. His posts are coming roughly every 20 minutes and are keeping us in the loop. Although these hearings are also on TV, not everyone is in front of a boob tube, or has 8 hours to spend today on this.

Follow the story

Although these posts are isolated on the ESPN Web site, they are syndicateable (is that a word, Eric? It is now). I searched for others who are doing this today, and there is nothing out there. ESPN…you win for getting it today.

This post was inspired by Matt Herzberger’s post on a reporter twittering a murder trial.

Somebody Doesn’t Get It: NCAA

Posted by ehodgso on January 28th, 2008 in , , and · 0 Comments

Just when you think we have come a long way with the acceptance of the Web as a communication tool, a significantly large governing body shows how out of date they are.

The NCAA, this month, has decided for very little reason, that bloggers with media credentials are posting too often at games (read the story). The rules are fairly liberal, but the fact that the rule is IN place befuddles me.

With the advent of easy-to-create blogs and posting tools like Twitter, media has embraced the “instant” culture the internet provides and users demand. Prior to this technology, television and radio were relied on to catch games. Prior to that, daily newspapers were the only chance for you to know what happened in the world of sports.

With downfalls in television broadcasting to serve an on-demand and nomadic culture, the only form of following a sporting event has moved online. With the limitation set forth by the NCAA, now that medium is slowed. Why?

My message to the NCAA is this: If you don’t want to support immediate forms of communication, turn these same regulations on television and radio broadcasters. Picture heading down to your local bar to catch the big football game with your buddies. Thanks to the NCAA, you sit and watch a black screen for all but four minutes per quarter. Sounds awesome.

Or you’re on a long car trip and want to pass the time by catching the bowling match (yep, even bowling blogs are regulated by the NCAA) between your alma mater and their biggest rival. But wait, you only get ten 30-second clips of the 2-hour match.

If there was only a standard media precedent already established…hmmm. Wait, there is. My friend Matt recently posted (no regulation on him) about a reporter covering a murder trial (yes, something as insignificant as a murder trial, compared to a college fencing match) via Twitter. One day of trial included 23 posts from this reporter.

If the US court system can allow media coverage via instant technology, why is the NCAA controlling this?

Focusing on Foundation Web Sites

Posted by ehodgso on October 15th, 2007 in , , and · 0 Comments

College and university marketing is often about stories. This is especially true when managing the development or giving Web site for institutions. These sites don’t fulfill the need without stories or opportunities for your audiences to connect (or reconnect). Some must-haves on these Web sites, in my opinion, are:

  • Drive to action. Making a gift is always the most significant action. Other actions are to register for events, volunteer, and RSS subscriptions or newsletters.
  • Stories. Even though facilities campaigns make great stories, nothing beats personal testaments. Use scholarship winners, faculty projects, and even staff reflections as ways to personalize the experience. Make this effort long-term by creating a blog.
  • Ongoing news. Keep your contributors up to date on campaigns and awards. And publish these in easy to subscribe formats. The more often your Foundation is in front of people with good news, the stronger the relationship.
  • Events. Get people to come see you. An away football game, groundbreaking, and open houses are great ways to get your constituents to mingle. Chapter events should not be too private…share local events on the national Web site as well.
  • Giving information. This seems basic, but make it as simple as possible. Giving programs, gift calculators, and tax procedures all make the process straightforward. And don’t forget ongoing progress.

A few sites that I think are doing great work include:

  • Oregon State University Foundation. Their tools for giving section make this site simple for the first-time giver. Also, their tax information and professional advisor information make giving an investment.
  • Oklahoma State University Foundation. “Gifts in Action” and the scholarship blog keep friends engaged and coming back to the site. The contests drive participation. And the stories act as prime real estate on the home page.
  • Supporting Notre Dame. Stories take center stage (even from the .edu home page). Their “Inspirations” campaign shows the impact of gifts through students, alumni, faculty, and staff. They have a pretty clean photo gallery. And I don’t say this very often, but their page design certainly caught my attention.

Some honorary mentions for me are Ohio State’s O-H-I-O feature, UNLV’s Invent the Future videos, and South Dakota State’s YouTube participation.

Launch the Site Right

Posted by ehodgso on August 27th, 2007 in , and · 1 Comment

Rebuilding a higher education Web site is always a significant endeavor. It takes months, it involves so many people across campus, and it can seem never ending. Much like a new building opening, more universities need to have a “ribbon cutting” of the new Web site.

Why, you ask? A few reasons:

  • Any publicity is good publicity. That’s not necessarily true, but launching a new Web presence is positive for the institution, the campus community, and the general public. If you have built the new Web site correctly, a site visitor should be thrilled at how much easier the site is to use, how much more they can do, or how much stronger tied to the institution they are.
  • It’s taken blood, sweat, and tears. Through committee reviews, content revisions, design changes, navigation nightmares, and just sheer length of time, the launch is a cause for celebration. Everyone involved deserves a pat on the back…make it official.
  • You’re proud of what you’ve done. In the end, the new site is better. Let people know.

How, you ask? A few tips:

  •  Plan early. How you are going to launch the site should be decided during early phases. As you are setting site goals, resources, and timelines, decide how the message is going to get out about the new site. Look for an event to tie the launch to. Look for a time to launch that won’t disrupt significant activities (Fall registration, for example). And pad your time accordingly.
  • Log the development process. Many institutions have started to do this as a collection for all documents, processes, and resources. It is not only a great way to keep on track, but also a great way to look back at all that was involved. Make this as public as you are comfortable with.
  • Let the dust settle. With any significant Web redesign, there are bound to be a few bugs found after you go live. Flip the switch, get some user testing in, then make it official 2-4 weeks later. We call these “quiet launch” and “loud launch”.
  • Throw a party. There are two reasons a party should be thrown. First, there are several people that gave their heart and soul to bringing the new site to life. Publicly thank them. Second, you are moving into Phase II, which is maintenance. All the content authors, bloggers, image managers, developers, site stakeholders, and central managers should understand that the next step is to keep the site as shiny and new two years from now as it is today. Motivate them.

These are just a few ideas in getting the site launched with the most bang. If you have a launch story, please share in the comments section. I would love to hear.

Email is Dead?

Posted by ehodgso on August 13th, 2007 in , , and · 2 Comments

I have two brothers - one in high school, the other a freshman in college. It stunned me to hear from the industry that email is a dead communication vehicle for high school students when I know my two little brothers both have (and check) gmail accounts.

At eduWeb, I caught Karlyn Morrissette’s session on recruiting using interactive media (podcast). She discussed all formats to get the attention of high school students, with email being one of them. That’s the important takeaway…email being one of them.

News.com had an article that put this well for me. Email is not dead…but rather their forum to ‘talk to adults.’ For those of you in the admissions field, you and your institution are adults. When it’s time to move the relationship forward, email does it.

Catching their attention may be in other formats. Back to Karlyn’s session, she mentioned MySpace as one of her more popular forms to engage students and push messages. When the important steps come, or more personal communication, email seems to be the one that most teens will head to.

Find ways to incorporate email, social networking, and text messaging where appropriate. More importantly, ask teens when and how they want to be communicated with. You’d be surprised that some will give you a home telephone number. You’ll also be surprised when the only thing you get from them is a Facebook account. Regardless, adapt to them.

For my two little brothers, if I want to catch their attention, I facebook them. If I want to ask them a question, I message them on facebook or myspace. If I need them right away, I text them. If I just want to send them something, I gmail them. It just works.

Giving Up Control - Listen to Marnie Webb

Posted by ehodgso on August 13th, 2007 in , , , and · 2 Comments

I caught a good article for non profits using social networks to move forward. The article is great, but a quote inside of the article gave me some goose bumps. You’ve heard me say it before, but it’s nice to see coming out of other’s mouths:

“Give up some control. When you start letting the details out, those passionate people are going to comme up with own ideas about what you can do. Let them take those ideas and run with them. Resist the urge to take them over or tell them what would work better. Instead, point to them proudly”

There is no better essence of what participating in social networking on the Web can do for you. A thousand voices is stronger than one any day. Read Marnie’s post.

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